28.2. Configuring Persistent Memory for Use as a Block Device (Legacy Mode)

To use persistent memory as a fast block device, set the namespace to sector mode.

ndctl create-namespace --force --reconfig=namespace1.0 --mode=sector

# ndctl create-namespace --force --reconfig=namespace1.0 --mode=sector
{
  "dev":"namespace1.0",
  "mode":"sector",
  "size":17162027008,
  "uuid":"029caa76-7be3-4439-8890-9c2e374bcc76",
  "sector_size":4096,
  "blockdev":"pmem1s"
}

In the example, namespace1.0 is reconfigured to sector mode. Note that the block device name changed from pmem1 to pmem1s. This device can be used in the same way as any other block device on the system. For example, the device can be partitioned, you can create a file system on the device, the device can be configured as part of a software RAID set, and the device can be the cache device for dm-cache.